Did you know that New York City’s website hosts vital statistics reports (PDFs) going all the way back to the 1960s? And that, from 1991 onward, these annual reports include baby name rankings for NYC?
I don’t want you to have to comb through a whole bunch of PDFs to find the city’s historical top-ten lists, though, so I gathered all the lists into a single blog post.
The name tables in the reports also incorporate several older sets rankings (from 1990, 1985, 1980, 1948, 1928, and 1898 specifically) for comparison, and those are here well — just scroll to the bottom.
2019
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2019. (Here’s my post about the 2019 NYC rankings.)
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2019) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2019) |
| 1. Emma 2. Olivia 3. Sophia 4. Mia 5. Isabella 6. Leah 7. Ava 8. Chloe 9. Amelia 10. Charlotte | 1. Liam 2. Noah 3. Ethan 4. Jacob 5. Lucas 6. Aiden 7. Daniel 8. Michael 9. David 10. Matthew |
2018
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2018. (Here’s my post about the 2018 NYC rankings.)
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2018) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2018) |
| 1. Emma 2. Isabella 3. Sophia 4. Mia 5. Olivia 6. Ava 7. Leah 8. Sarah 9. Amelia 10. Chloe | 1. Liam 2. Noah 3. Ethan 4. Jacob 5. Aiden 6. David 7. Lucas 8. Matthew 9. Daniel 10. Alexander |
2017
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2017. (Here’s my post about the 2017 NYC rankings.)
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2017) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2017) |
| 1. Emma 2. Olivia 3. Mia 4. Sophia 5. Isabella 6. Ava 7. Leah 8. Emily 9. Sarah 10. Abigail | 1. Liam 2. Noah 3. Jacob 4. Ethan 5. David 6. Lucas 7. Matthew 8. Jayden 9. Aiden 10. Daniel |
2016
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2016. (Here’s my post about the 2016 NYC rankings.)
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2016) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2016) |
| 1. Olivia 2. Sophia 3. Emma 4. Isabella 5. Mia 6. Ava 7. Emily 8. Leah 9. Sarah 10. Madison | 1. Liam 2. Jacob 3. Ethan 4. Noah 5. Aiden 6. Matthew 7. Daniel 8. Lucas 9. Michael 10. Dylan |
2015
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2015. (Here’s my post about the 2015 NYC rankings.)
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2015) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2015) |
| 1. Olivia 2. Sophia 3. Emma (tie) 4. Mia (tie) 5. Isabella 6. Leah 7. Emily 8. Ava 9. Chloe 10. Madison | 1. Ethan 2. Liam 3. Noah 4. Jacob 5. Jayden 6. Matthew 7. David 8. Daniel (tie) 9. Dylan (tie) 10. Aiden |
2014
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2014. (Here’s my post about the 2014 NYC rankings.)
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2014) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2014) |
| 1. Sophia 2. Isabella 3. Olivia 4. Mia 5. Emma 6. Emily 7. Leah 8. Ava 9. Sofia 10. Chloe | 1. Ethan 2. Jacob 3. Liam 4. Jayden 5. Noah 6. Daniel 7. Michael 8. Alexander 9. David 10. Matthew |
2013
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2013.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2013) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2013) |
| 1. Sophia 2. Isabella 3. Emma 4. Olivia 5. Mia 6. Emily 7. Leah 8. Sofia 9. Madison 10. Chloe | 1. Jayden 2. Ethan 3. Jacob 4. Daniel 5. David 6. Noah 7. Michael 8. Matthew 9. Alexander 10. Liam |
2012
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2012.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2012) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2012) |
| 1. Sophia 2. Isabella 3. Emma 4. Olivia 5. Emily 6. Mia 7. Chloe 8. Madison 9. Leah 10. Ava | 1. Jayden 2. Ethan 3. Jacob 4. Daniel 5. Matthew 6. Michael 7. Aiden 8. David 9. Ryan 10. Alexander |
2011
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2011. (Here’s my post about the 2011 NYC rankings.)
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2011) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2011) |
| 1. Isabella 2. Sophia 3. Olivia 4. Emma 5. Mia 6. Emily 7. Madison 8. Leah 9. Chloe 10. Sofia | 1. Jayden 2. Jacob 3. Ethan 4. Daniel 5. Michael 6. Matthew 7. Justin 8. David 9. Aiden 10. Alexander |
2010
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2010.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2010) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2010) |
| 1. Isabella 2. Sophia 3. Olivia 4. Emily 5. Madison 6. Mia 7. Emma 8. Leah 9. Sarah 10. Chloe | 1. Jayden 2. Ethan 3. Daniel 4. Jacob 5. David 6. Justin 7. Michael 8. Matthew 9. Joseph 10. Joshua |
2009
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2009.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2009) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2009) |
| 1. Isabella 2. Sophia 3. Mia 4. Emily 5. Olivia 6. Madison 7. Sarah 8. Ashley 9. Leah 10. Emma | 1. Jayden 2. Daniel 3. Ethan 4. Michael 5. David 6. Justin 7. Matthew 8. Joshua 9. Alexander 10. Christopher |
2008
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2008.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2008) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2008) |
| 1. Sophia 2. Isabella 3. Emily 4. Olivia 5. Sarah 6. Madison 7. Ashley 8. Mia 9. Samantha 10. Emma | 1. Jayden 2. Daniel 3. Michael 4. Matthew 5. David 6. Joshua 7. Justin 8. Anthony 9. Christopher 10. Ethan/Ryan (tied for 10th) |
2007
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2007. (Here’s my post about the 2007 NYC rankings.)
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2007) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2007) |
| 1. Isabella (tie) 2. Sophia (tie) 3. Emily 4. Ashley 5. Sarah 6. Kayla 7. Mia 8. Olivia 9. Samantha 10. Rachel | 1. Daniel 2. Jayden 3. Michael 4. Matthew 5. Justin 6. Joshua 7. David 8. Anthony 9. Christopher 10. Joseph |
2006
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2006. (Here’s my post about the 2006 NYC rankings.)
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2006) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2006) |
| 1. Ashley 2. Emily 3. Isabella 4. Sarah 5. Kayla 6. Sophia 7. Mia 8. Madison 9. Brianna (tie) 10. Samantha (tie) | 1. Michael 2. Daniel 3. Matthew 4. Joshua 5. Justin 6. David 7. Christopher 8. Joseph 9. Anthony 10. Jayden |
2005
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2005.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2005) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2005) |
| 1. Emily 2. Ashley 3. Kayla 4. Sarah 5. Isabella 6. Samantha 7. Sophia 8. Nicole 9. Olivia 10. Rachel | 1. Michael 2. Daniel 3. Joshua 4. David 5. Justin 6. Matthew 7. Anthony 8. Christopher 9. Joseph 10. Nicholas |
2004
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2004.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2004) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2004) |
| 1. Emily 2. Ashley 3. Kayla 4. Sarah 5. Samantha 6. Isabella 7. Brianna 8. Sophia 9. Nicole 10. Olivia | 1. Michael 2. Daniel 3. Matthew 4. Justin 5. Joshua 6. David 7. Anthony 8. Christopher (tie) 9. Joseph (tie) 10. Ryan |
2003
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2003.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2003) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2003) |
| 1. Emily 2. Ashley 3. Kayla 4. Sarah 5. Samantha 6. Brianna 7. Isabella 8. Nicole 9. Rachel 10. Jessica | 1. Michael 2. Justin 3. Daniel 4. Matthew 5. Christopher 6. Anthony 7. David 8. Joshua 9. Joseph 10. Kevin |
2002
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2002.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2002) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2002) |
| 1. Ashley 2. Emily 3. Kayla 4. Brianna 5. Samantha 6. Sarah 7. Nicole 8. Jessica 9. Michelle 10. Isabella | 1. Michael 2. Justin 3. Daniel 4. Matthew 5. Christopher 6. Joseph 7. Anthony 8. Joshua 9. Nicholas 10. David |
2001
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2001.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2001) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2001) |
| 1. Ashley 2. Kayla 3. Samantha 4. Emily 5. Jessica 6. Brianna 7. Nicole 8. Sarah 9. Destiny 10. Michelle | 1. Michael 2. Justin 3. Christopher 4. Daniel 5. Matthew 6. Joseph 7. Anthony 8. David 9. Joshua 10. Kevin |
2000
The most popular baby names in New York City in 2000.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 2000) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 2000) |
| 1. Ashley 2. Samantha 3. Kayla 4. Emily 5. Brianna 6. Sarah 7. Jessica 8. Nicole 9. Michelle 10. Amanda | 1. Michael 2. Justin 3. Christopher 4. Matthew 5. Daniel 6. Anthony 7. Joshua 8. David 9. Joseph 10. Kevin |
1999
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1999.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1999) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1999) |
| 1. Ashley 2. Samantha 3. Emily 4. Sarah 5. Nicole 6. Kayla 7. Jessica 8. Brianna 9. Amanda 10. Jennifer | 1. Michael 2. Justin 3. Matthew 4. Christopher 5. Joseph 6. Daniel 7. Anthony 8. David 9. Kevin 10. Joshua |
1998
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1998.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1998) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1998) |
| 1. Ashley 2. Samantha 3. Jessica 4. Amanda 5. Nicole 6. Emily 7. Jennifer 8. Sarah 9. Brianna 10. Stephanie | 1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Justin 4. Joseph 5. Matthew 6. Anthony 7. Daniel 8. Brandon 9. Nicholas 10. David |
1997
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1997.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1997) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1997) |
| 1. Ashley 2. Samantha 3. Jessica 4. Nicole 5. Amanda 6. Sarah 7. Stephanie 8. Jennifer 9. Emily 10. Brianna | 1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Joseph 4. Matthew 5. Justin 6. Daniel 7. Anthony (tie) 8. Brandon (tie) 9. David 10. Jonathan |
1996
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1996.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1996) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1996) |
| 1. Ashley 2. Jessica 3. Samantha 4. Stephanie 5. Nicole 6. Amanda 7. Jennifer 8. Sarah 9. Michelle 10. Emily | 1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Anthony 4. Kevin 5. Daniel 6. Joseph 7. Matthew 8. Justin 9. Jonathan 10. David |
1995
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1995.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1995) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1995) |
| 1. Ashley 2. Jessica 3. Amanda 4. Samantha 5. Stephanie 6. Jennifer 7. Nicole 8. Sarah* 9. Michelle 10. Emily | 1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Kevin 4. Daniel 5. Jonathan 6. Joseph 7. Anthony 8. Matthew 9. David 10. Justin |
*The name was spelled “Sara” (without the h) in the 1995 annual report, but “Sarah” (with the h) on all the other reports. So, assuming that “Sara” was a typo, I’ve spelled it with the h here.
1994
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1994.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1994) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1994) |
| 1. Ashley 2. Jessica 3. Stephanie 4. Samantha 5. Amanda 6. Nicole 7. Jennifer 8. Michelle 9. Tiffany 10. Danielle | 1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Kevin 4. Anthony 5. Jonathan 6. Daniel 7. Joseph 8. Matthew 9. David 10. Brandon |
1993
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1993.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1993) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1993) |
| 1. Ashley 2. Stephanie 3. Jessica 4. Amanda 5. Samantha 6. Nicole 7. Jennifer 8. Michelle 9. Melissa 10. Christina | 1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Kevin 4. Jonathan 5. Anthony 6. Daniel 7. Joseph 8. David 9. Matthew 10. John |
1992
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1992.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1992) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1992) |
| 1. Ashley 2. Stephanie 3. Jessica 4. Amanda 5. Samantha 6. Jennifer 7. Nicole 8. Michelle 9. Melissa 10. Christina | 1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Jonathan 4. Anthony 5. Joseph 6. Daniel 7. David 8. Kevin 9. Matthew 10. John |
1991
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1991.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1991) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1991) |
| 1. Stephanie 2. Ashley 3. Jessica 4. Amanda 5. Samantha 6. Jennifer 7. Nicole 8. Michelle 9. Melissa 10. Christina | 1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Jonathan 4. Anthony 5. Joseph 6. Daniel 7. David 8. Matthew 9. Kevin 10. John |
1990
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1990.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1990) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1990) |
| 1. Stephanie 2. Jessica 3. Ashley 4. Jennifer 5. Amanda 6. Samantha 7. Nicole 8. Christina 9. Melissa 10. Michelle | 1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Jonathan 4. Anthony 5. David 6. Daniel 7. Joseph 8. Matthew 9. John 10. Andrew |
1985
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1985.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1985) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1985) |
| 1. Jennifer 2. Jessica 3. Christina 4. Stephanie 5. Melissa 6. Nicole 7. Elizabeth 8. Amanda 9. Danielle 10. Lauren | 1. Michael 2. Christopher 3. Daniel 4. David 5. Anthony 6. Joseph 7. Jonathan 8. Jason 9. John 10. Robert |
1980
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1980.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1980) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1980) |
| 1. Jennifer 2. Jessica 3. Melissa 4. Nicole 5. Michelle 6. Elizabeth 7. Lisa 8. Christina 9. Tiffany 10. Maria | 1. Michael 2. David 3. Jason 4. Joseph 5. Christopher 6. Anthony 7. John 8. Daniel 9. Robert 10. James |
1948
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1948.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1948) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1948) |
| 1. Linda 2. Mary 3. Barbara 4. Patricia 5. Susan 6. Kathleen 7. Carol 8. Nancy 9. Margaret 10. Diane | 1. Robert 2. John 3. James 4. Michael 5. William 6. Richard 7. Joseph 8. Thomas 9. Stephen 10. David |
1928
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1928.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1928) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1928) |
| 1. Mary 2. Marie 3. Annie 4. Margaret 5. Catherine 6. Gloria 7. Helen 8. Teresa 9. Joan 10. Barbara | 1. John 2. William 3. Joseph 4. James 5. Richard 6. Edward 7. Robert 8. Thomas 9. George 10. Louis |
1898
The most popular baby names in New York City in 1898.
| Top Girl Names (NYC, 1898) | Top Boy Names (NYC, 1898) |
| 1. Mary 2. Catherine 3. Margaret 4. Annie 5. Rose 6. Marie 7. Esther 8. Sarah 9. Frances 10. Ida | 1. John 2. William 3. Charles 4. George 5. Joseph 6. Edward 7. James 8. Louis 9. Francis 10. Samuel |
NYC typically waits until the following December to release their baby name rankings, so I don’t expect the 2020 rankings to be available until the end of this year.
Sources: New York City‘s Summary of Vital Statistics for 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf), 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf), 2014 (pdf), 2013 (pdf), 2012 (pdf), 2011 (pdf), 2010 (pdf), 2009 (pdf), 2008 (pdf), 2007 (pdf), 2006 (pdf), 2005 (pdf), 2004 (pdf), 2003 (pdf), 2002 (pdf), 2001 (pdf), 2000 (pdf), 1999 (pdf), 1998 (pdf), 1997 (pdf), 1996 (pdf), 1995 (pdf), 1994 (pdf), 1993 (pdf), 1992 (pdf), 1991 (pdf)
Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)
2 things-
Obviously I’m interested in the Jayden. I love that it started in 1976! and in 2009 over 17k boys had the name! It may have dropped off in popularity, but I’m fine with that. I chose my son’s name (as I’ve said way too many times lol) from Star Trek TNG and it was unique, the number one thing I needed for a name.
I notice that always, there is at least one biblical boys name, on the list and I think it’s probably on every list in the US. Girls lists not really, and there are plenty of girl names to pick from out of the bible. The last thing I (me myself) wanted to saddle my kid with was a name like, Matthew, David, Michael. Simply too many of those names.
With such a high concentration of everyone from around the world, I was surprised to not see more ethnic names being popular.
You can see a lot more diversity in the names lower down you go in the rankings — there aren’t many here only because I made the cut-off 10 as opposed to 20, or 50.
For instance, the 2007 boys’ top 100 included Angel (26th), Luis (38th), Moshe (57th), Carlos (63rd), Chaim (74th), Diego (75th), Miguel (76th), Jesus (89th), Menachem (99th), and Yosef (also 99th).
I think, given that NYC has such a large Jewish community, names like Rachel and Sarah *might* be countable as ethnic. They certainly rank a lot higher in NYC than in the U.S. as a whole.